Book sample (PDF) - Heyday

INTRODUCTION Basketry in Native LifeWorld-Class Art Born of NecessityCalifornia Indian basketry is one of the great textile traditions of theworld. In a region encompassing remarkably diverse natural environments,nearly every Native community excelled at basketry, creatinga marvelous palette of distinctive, regional weaving traditions—from therainy redwood forests of the North Coast to the arid expanse of Death Valley.Characterized by their structural integrity and technique, variety of form, andvisually stimulating designs, these containers are iconic of California Indiancultures.Baskets pervaded every aspect of Native life. Infants were cradled in basketswithin the first minutes of life, while a fine basket might cover one’s face inthe hour of death. Admired for their aesthetic merits, baskets were nonethelessborn of necessity, rooted in a way of life, used to collect, transport, process,and store diverse food resources. Strong, durable, versatile, lightweight, andoften watertight, Native baskets were perfected to suit local food-collectingeconomies.For centuries, basketry was a community-based tradition. It was not ahobby or an isolated art venture. All the women in a community were responsiblefor the production of baskets. Elder female relatives passed skills andstandards on to younger generations. The role of basketry was just one ofmany aspects of Native life that changed with the arrival of Euro-Americans.By the close of the nineteenth century, the use of baskets in everyday life beganto decline; instead, California Indian baskets had become one of the mostsought-after art forms in America, at the forefront of a burgeoning market xv